Can I get screened or tested to find out whether I have been exposed to anthrax?
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5 doctors weighed in:
Can I get screened or tested to find out whether I have been exposed to anthrax?
5 doctors weighed in
Dr. Heidi Fowler
Psychiatry
In brief: Not a specific test
There is not a specific test for anthrax.
If spores were to be seen on gram staining - this could confirm the diagnosis. Problem is that they are often not present.
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Dr. Barbara A Majeroni
Family Medicine
In brief: Not really
If you have symptoms of anthrax, a blood culture and gram stain can be used to confirm the diagnosis.
Anthrax is very rare in the US.
In brief: Not really
If you have symptoms of anthrax, a blood culture and gram stain can be used to confirm the diagnosis.
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Dr. Morton Levitt
Pathology
In brief: Anthrax testing
Home anthrax tests and nasal swabs are not highly sensitive.
They depend on having a lot of anthrax spores in the biological sample. If you are concerned, see your doctor immediately, and he will initiate a public health investigation of your contacts and order sophisticated tests, which ar much more accurate, to determine your possible jnfectivity. These tests take 1-3 days to process.
In brief: Anthrax testing
Home anthrax tests and nasal swabs are not highly sensitive.
They depend on having a lot of anthrax spores in the biological sample. If you are concerned, see your doctor immediately, and he will initiate a public health investigation of your contacts and order sophisticated tests, which ar much more accurate, to determine your possible jnfectivity. These tests take 1-3 days to process.
Dr. Morton Levitt
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